Warriors defeat New London, will play in district final

Jul 18, 2014

The Van Buren High School baseball team was dominant yet again Thursday, and with its 11-1 win over New London (10-16) in Keosauqua, the Warriors will now play Saturday in the Class 1A District 10 final against Burlington Notre Dame.

The game lasted just five innings. Van Buren scored seven runs in the first inning and then three in the third to cap off the night.

Brandon Plecker went 1-3 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs. Tanner Smith had two hits, scored once and drove in a run. Robby Laughlin also smacked two hits and scored twice. Garrett Saunders and Will Mertens both had one hit, scored a run and drove in a teammate.

While his team was scoring runs, Robert Barker pitched four solid innings on the mound, allowing just two hits, two walks and one unearned run. Barker struck out five Tigers.

The Warriors (33-2) have faced Burlingon Notre Dame (16-9) twice this season and won both times. One game was a 6-2 win, while the other went for 21 combined runs and resulted in a 12-9 win. The Nikes have defeated WACO 10-0 and Danville 2-0 so far in these district playoffs.